1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a remote control pan head system, more particularly to a remote control pan head system that controls a shooting direction and a shooting angle of view of a camera mounted on a pan head by a controller.
2. Description of Related Art
In a remote control pan head system, a pan head controller transmits control signals to a remote control pan head on which a TV camera (hereinafter referred to as a camera) is mounted, and the remote control pan head pans and tilts the camera to control a shooting direction of the camera and makes a taking lens in the camera perform operations such as zooming to control a shooting angle of view and the like of the camera.
The remote control pan head system is usually used to shoot outside by the camera installed outdoors, e.g., on the rooftop of a building. In the case where the remote control pan head is installed on the rooftop of the building, if the remote control pan head tilts the camera downward to shoot something on the ground, a part (e.g., a corner part) of the rooftop of the building may largely appear in the image shot by the camera and a poor image is thereby shot and broadcast or recorded. This problem may occur if one or more of obstructive objects exist near the camera due to a place where the remote control pan head is installed. Likewise, the problem may also occur when the zooming position (the shooting angle of view) of the camera is switched from a telephoto side to a wide-angle side.
When an operator remotely controls the remote control pan head with the pan head controller, the operator has to control the shooting direction and the zooming of the camera with reference to only the image that is being shot by the camera. Hence, after an undesirable object has already spoiled the shot image, the operator becomes aware the problem and avoids it in many cases. It is thus difficult to avoid the spoiled image in advance even if the operator is careful in operating the pan head.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a remote control pan head system that appropriately restricts ranges of the shooting direction and the angle of view of a camera mounted on a remote control pan head to surely prevent an undesirable object from being shot, and that automatically determines the undesirable object in a simple designating operation to thereby easily set the changeable ranges of the shooting direction and the shooting angle of view of the camera.
The above object can be accomplished by providing a remote control pan head system, comprising: a pan head on which a camera is mounted, the pan head controlling a shooting direction and a shooting angle of view of the camera; a controller which controls the pan head; an outline determining device which determines a position of an outline of a shooting-avoided object by processing an image shot by the camera; and a shooting-range restricting device which controls the pan head to restrict ranges of the shooting direction and the shooting angle of view of the camera according to the position of the outline of the shooting-avoided object determined by the outline determining device.
According to the present invention, the outline position of the shooting-avoided object is determined in advance, and the ranges wherein the shooting direction and the shooting angle of view of the camera can be changed by the controller are restricted according to the determined outline position. This surely prevents the shot image from being spoiled by the shooting-avoided object even if an operator pays no attention to the shooting-avoided object.
The outline determining device preferably comprises: a designating device which designates a detection starting point to determine the outline of the shooting-avoided object on an image, shot by the camera, in which at least a part of the outline of the shooting-avoided object appears; and an image processing device which continuously changes the shooting direction and the shooting angle of view of the camera to determine the position of the outline of the shooting-avoided object continuing from the detection starting point designated by the designating device in an image processing.
According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically determine the outline of the shooting-avoided object in the image processing by designating one point on the outline of the shooting-avoided object on the image. This makes it easier to designate the ranges wherein the shooting direction and the shooting angle of view are changeable.